Brandon Belt said Hunter Pence did it again. With the Giants trailing 6-0, Pence started yelling “synergy, synergy, we’ve got to believe” in the dugout. Really, all Pence needed to do was yell “GUYS, WE’RE PLAYING AT COORS FIELD.”

You’re never out of a game here, even when your ace gives up three homers and six early runs and your bullpen is depleted and you’re facing a pretty hot pitcher and you’re coming off two terrible losses and …

You’re just never out of a game here. The Giants stormed back quickly, with Brandon Crawford getting the biggest hit. It’s not easy to hit in front of the pitcher, but Crawford fouled off a tough breaking ball from Jhoulys Chacin and then lined the next one into the outfield to empty the bases.

“I was ready for anything,” Crawford said.

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It was a huge hit for a guy who has a ton of them this year. It was also part of a big effort from a trio of guys who have been bounced around this year: Crawford, Belt and Gregor Blanco. Combined, they had four hits, a walk, four runs and four RBIs.

“Yeah,” Belt said, grinning. “We’re awesome.”
If those three keep grinding out good at-bats, the lineup becomes pretty scary. It’s already a group that leads the league in hitting and is ranked near the top in runs. And it’s clearly a group that can overcome any kind of deficit. Tonight’s six-run comeback was the biggest in a Giants’ win since 2005.

“Last year and a few years before that, I don’t know if our offense executed the way they do now,” Jeremy Affeldt said. “That’s a credit to a maturing lineup. Right now, you let the offense just keep rolling. It’s awesome.”

It’s been a very rough start for the starting staff, and Cain’s homer problems continued when the Rockies slugged three. “I was really making a lot of bad mistakes,” Cain said.

He has given up 13 homers through nine starts, an alarming number any way you look at it. Cain has a 5.43 ERA at the moment, which is still way ahead of Ryan Vogelsong’s pace. So yes, this is a problem. But it’s a problem the Giants will have to fix internally. It’s one manager Bruce Bochy will surely talk about with his staff tonight and tomorrow and many more days.

Cain had a rough one but got away with it, and to be fair he did a great job of keeping the Giants in the game, retiring 13 of 15 to finish his night. With Chad Gaudin unavailable, Cain was out there regardless. Either wear it or find a way to keep your team in the game.

“We needed length out of him and we got it,” Bochy said. “He regrouped. He’s a horse and he doesn’t get rattled.”

— The ‘W’ also allowed for some jokes, even from Cain. Asked who gave him the most grief because the coaching staff had him skip the Toronto trip, Cain didn’t hesitate.

“Affeldt, Affeldt. From the guy that stabbed himself in the hand and blew out his knee from his kid and blew out his oblique. He can say what he wants.”

Turns out Affeldt needed some serious patching up after a fishing accident with his grandfather years ago. He still has a pretty gnarly scar over his upper lip. But don’t let the kidding around take away from what was a pretty clutch outing from the left-hander. Affeldt pitched two perfect innings in relief of Cain, getting the ball all the way to Sergio Romo. That’s not easy anywhere, let alone Coors Field.

“We stretched him out pretty good, but he can handle it,” Bochy said. “He came through for us.”

That’s not to say that the bullpen is back to normal. Bochy said there are ongoing discussions about adding another arm to the group because of all these rough outings for the starters.

— Crawford thought he could catch Charlie Blackmon’s flare on the fly, but it took a weird path out to short. So Crawford did this:

That’s just silly. Where does it rank on the Crawford Scale?

“That’s up there,” he said.

— Jeff Francis was put on the DL today. Rockies reporters think Tyler Chatwood will get the start on Sunday.

— Super Small Sample Size Alert: Brett Pill has had a couple of nice at-bats since coming back up. Unfortunately Nolan Arenado can BALL. The Rockies have a real nice collection of young hitters … but you gotta pitch …

They gotta give Pill more of a shot here. He was leading all of MILB in HRs and RBIs last i heard and the SFG website has some bs about calling up Pill was just to help Peguero get more playing time (down in Fresno) No mention really of the great year Pill was having down there. Get the feeling they just rather see Pill give up and go away.

ed c

this is a very flawed team that is in first place….playing 600 ball. They compete like no one else…but there is a bunch to fix.

ClutchUp

I can see Pence duplicating the Kinsler slide!

avwh

That Kinsler slide is the ugliest I’ve ever seen from a major leaguer.

South City Jim

Lefty going tomorrow…dare I ask…does Pill get a start? Don’t want to start a ruckus here or anything… heh,heh,heh

In a crazy sort of way, I thought after Rosario hit the HR that the Rox hitters all wanted to go deep. The most telling AB was when they had Gonzalez on 2B in the 5th inning with no one out and Tulo swang out of his shoes and popped one up. I thought that was a huge half inning for Cain and the G’s.

ClutchUp

Ibcb:

I don’t think Pill is going down. It will be Noonan. But Pills role has zero to do with Belt. Zero!

The Oracle

I’m not really a Pill fan, but he seems like a good guy and it would be tough to get sent back down so quickly. At the the same, it seems like the third first baseman would be th most expendable.

OMT

Verlander tonight in the 3rd inn:

7 ER
4 H (1 a 3R HR)
2 BB w/ bases loaded
1 HBP

lbcb

clutch –

im not about getting rid of Belt – he brings good defense and speed on the basepaths and his hitting will come around.

however, i think the giants just rather see Pill go away.

ClutchUp

I don’t think in a baseball business that please go away even exists unless its AJ.

Jim: I’d think they would start Pill against the lefty, wouldn’t you? Gotta get him some ABs, even if he’s here for the bench. Same as Arias or Torres or Quiroz. I don’t really have a problem with Bochy stacking the lineup against lefties. Worked pretty well last year–they pounded lefty starters. And Jorge de la Rosa is a pretty good lefty. Luckily we have one, too.

Lefty

VGF: Do you know much about Kendry Flores in Augusta? Young guy, looks like he’s having a pretty good year.

OMT

2012 AL Cy Young Winner David Price

1 in win 9 starts this year. 5.24 ERA

Put on DL, but MRI was negative.

Lefty

It’s a bummer if it’s Noonan. I liked that story–got the reprieve in spring training, got some nice hits early in the season.

If he goes down, I wonder if he ever comes back? There’s Arias ahead of him and Panik behind him.

anthillunda2nd

I doubt they’d send Pill back down, he has no use left in Fresno, the guy is yawning through his monster shots.

He was never viewed as a commodity in the system and never given much of a chance, but he does it the old fashioned way….hit his way to fame.

Someone in the AL should make this guy a DH yesterday.

We should really try and get by with what we have for pitching, neither Nooner or Pill has much to prove in AAA.

Doughnut

Huge huge win on a gutty effort by Matt Cain. Maybe the biggest win of the year. When you just played two ugly games and flew overnight it would have been easy to mail it in down six. This team fights harder than any other. And if we lose this one it puts a lot of pressure on Bumgarner to get a win and if that doesn’t happen who knows the next time we get back in the win column. Losing streaks can be an ugly thing and can take there toll. Sometimes they are hard to get out of so a great bounce back game after the atrocity in Toronto.

I thought Alex nailed it. The bottom three guys are giving really good impressive ABs. Belt is really seeing the ball well. He has taken a lot of the loop out of his swing and is now making very solid contact. Hopefully he can find some consistency and just focus on the ABs and not the results.

The pitching is bad right now and we are still winning. It is not a formula that we are going to be able to rely on but at the same time i believe the pitching will eventually find some rhythm. We are still going to need another starter no matter what in my opinion so hopefully Sabean is working on that. Even if its just a minor league deal or a 5 or 6th starter.

Defense was much better tonight. A really good job by the outfield on getting good jumps and the whole team just looked a lot more focused on this game. They HAVE to play that way every game. Defense is going to be a major factor in how this team does.

anthillunda2nd

Lefty, with the way Noonan plays, if someone wanted to trade for Panik and it was a good deal I’d keep Nick and ship Panik.

Gotta take the proven MLB player, with limited at-bats he keeps shining.

Doughnut

Kind of dissapointed Francis isnt starting in this series. We tattooed him last year. He doesn’t have anything for Buster.
The Chatwood kid actually has pretty good stuff and a good fastball.

Vegas Giants Fan

Lefty,

I’ll see if I can find a scouting report on Flores. He’s a 6’2″ 175 right handed pitcher signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Giants 6/04/2009.

Hey all, currently in Spain so been following games through this blog and replays on Sfgiants.com so appreciate all the notes.

One thought that may have been thrown out before, and VGF looking for your thoughts here but about grabbing Matt Garza from the Cubs? No idea what his price would be but if Vogey keeps struggling and they don’t want to look internal could be an option?

Vegas Giants Fan

Bay City Ball – April 6, 2013 – Kendry Flores – By Chris Martinez

Kendry Flores broke past the rookie ranks for the first time this season might get a chance in the rotation (Augusta) after starting 43 games over the last four seasons between the Dominican Summer League, the AZL, and Salem-Keizer. He’s a strike thrower and can handle a decent workload. He’s one of my (Martinez) sleeper picks to watch for this year.

This is the most complete scouting report I have found so far.

Go Giants.

JD4SF

I loved watching the game!!! (recorded)

Being down 6-0 barely gave me a shrug because I knew we had lots of innings left, and this is a team that does not quit and does well in a come from behind situation. And we historically do well in CO.

Our guys proved me right to have confidence in them.
TEAM effort and TEAM win!

Yes, we have some issues, but I’m also confident the bumpy road will get smoother … and we’re already doing well despite the bumps. Particularly if the bottom of the order continues to contribute so well with their bats, we’ll be strong contenders in the post season.

2013 is another exciting season for Giants baeball! One game at a time … 8)

totalfan62

I loved watching the game on my phone. No sound, just ESPN gamecast. Crawford double, three runs score. That’s when I knew we had a very good chance to win this game.

I get all the concern about Cainer, but I firmly believe it’s just a matter of a few pitches being wild in the strike zone. Seems like all our starters are better after a homestand, and I think we’ll see that with Matt going forward.

Great post doughnut. So happy to see The Brandons and Sharkplug turn the bottom of the lineup into consistent production. That translates to better pitches for Panda, Buster and Pence.

Seriously must say that some of y’all threw some mighty nasty crap at our boys early in last night’s game. Is what it is, but exhibiting a little patience–and remembering that everything about baseball is a marathon, not a sprint–will make this blog a much more experience for us all. Just sayin’…

Lefty

VGF: Thanks for the info on Flores–I just noticed he’s doing quite well for Augusta, and he’s not a name I’ve heard before…appreciate your looking it up.

totalfan62

Apologies in advance to those who dislike Dubs talk on GE, but I just gotta tip my cap. Fantastic young team quickly ascending in the Western Division. Dubs vs my OKC Thunder in conference finals ’14? That would be fun.

Even more impressive was Curry’s address to the home crowd after the game, and the reaction of his surrounding teammates. Jackson with some inspirational postgame comments. Still has some growing to do as a coach, but he’ll get there. His passion and mentoring is an integral factor in the growth of this young team. .

Good times ahead for Golden State Warriors fans!

totalfan62

Argh…moderation purgatory. Take two…

Apologies in advance to those who dislike Dubs talk on GE, but I just gotta tip my cap. Fantastic young team quickly ascending in the Western Division. Dubs vs my OKC Thunder in conference finals ’14? That would be fun.

Even more impressive was Curry’s address to the home crowd after the game, and the reaction of his surrounding teammates. Jackson with some inspirational postgame comments. Still has some growing to do as a coach, but he’ll get there. His pa$$ion and mentoring is an integral factor in the growth of this young team. .

Good times ahead for Golden State Warriors fans!

Croix de Candlestick

AP wrote: ” It’s already a group that leads the league in hitting and is ranked near the top in runs.”

Let that sink in a minute

Lefty

I guess I’m troubled by the pattern I’m seeing. The starter (and it’s been all of them at points except Bum, not just Cain) gives up a bunch of runs early in one or two bad innings. Sometimes–not always–the starter then settles down and throws up a few zeroes. Sometimes–not always–the offense picks the starter up and the Giants win or at least make a game of it.

We all know that the Giants’ rotation is among the worst in the NL so far. So it bothers me when the announcers or Bochy or fans downplay the starter’s outing (“except for that one bad inning, he was great”). To me it’s making excuses for poor focus or poor execution. If Cain (for example) could suddenly click into gear and be a bulldog after he gave up the THIRD home run, why couldn’t he be one BEFORE all the home runs?

This is not a formula for success. Yes, the Giants won last night, and credit to the hitters for fighting. But they got down early and lost both games in Toronto. Same in the first two games aganst Philly last week and the first game against Atlanta when they actually faced good pitchers. Far more often than not, if your starter puts you in an early huge hole, you will lose.

No one takes the Colorado Rockies seriously as a contender in the NL West despite a strong start. Why not? They have an excellent lineup with a couple of superstars and some exciting younger hitters. But no one believes in them because their pitching isn’t good enough for a long season, let alone the postseason. And as of today, the Rockies’ pitching is better than the Giants’, at least by the numbers if not by the resumes. When did the Giants become the Rockies?

I guess I’d like to see or hear that this is a concern for the Giants’ management, that they know what’s been happening isn’t sustainable and that alternatives or backup plans are being discussed. Right now it seems like fiddling while Rome burns. (Maybe Rome’s not quite burning yet, but it’s definitely fire season.)

Thanks for the kind words about the Warriors, totalfan. Very proud of the team and their effort, and kudos to Coach Jackson and his fine young players.

Switching the avatar back to baseball season now…

Ryan

Guten morgan volks.

Jorge De La Rosa has a pretty significant split differential between facing lefties and righties.

vs RHB .271/.356/.449

vs LHB .234/.319/.346

So even if the first basemen have reverse platoon splits in a small sample size, go with the platoon here because of the trend in the much larger sample size.

===

Panda Puff,

Better make sure Garza is healthy. Jake Peavy is dealing for a Chi Sox team headed for fire sale. Would love to see a Peavy – Bochy reunion.

It looks like Lefty is already on board (appropriate emoticon), so this stat is dedicated to someone looking up Belt and Pill’s splits and saying “NOOO”.

Pill looks ready to mash. Patiently waiting for his pitch then letting it rip to defend the K zone. De La Rosa will probably try to go after him with back foot dookie.

Ryan

Guten morgan volks.

Jorge De La Rosa has a pretty significant split differential between facing lefties and righties.

vs RHB .271/.356/.449

vs LHB .234/.319/.346

So even if the first basemen have reverse platoon splits in a small sample size, go with the platoon here because of the trend in the much larger sample size.

It looks like Lefty is already on board (appropriate emoticon), so this stat is dedicated to someone looking up Belt and Pill’s splits and saying “NOOO”.

Pill looks ready to mash. Patiently waiting for his pitch then letting it rip to defend the K zone. De La Rosa will probably try to go after him with back foot dookie.

===

Panda Puff,

Better make sure Garza is healthy. Jake Peavy is dealing for a Chi Sox team headed for fire sale. Would love to see a Peavy – Bochy reunion.

Giant PITA

The Giants usually have a winning record because of their rotation. So far this season, they have a winning record in spite of it. Thank goodness for the offense bailing out the pitching. It’s pretty amazing the G’s are sitting in 1st considering the starting rotation’s numbers (Bum excluded of course).
Certainly not the formula concocted by SaBochy and not one that bodes well for long term success. Sabean will find some help, but our guys are going to have figure it out and turn it around for any real shot at post season glory this year. They are just too good to continue being so bad!

Giant PITA

Lefty @ 6:32am,

I couldn’t agree more. I must have been receiving your message through the ether as I was typing my post @ 6:45am.

3Kings

Colorado will never win Because of Coors…

Its too bad, not!!!!

Suck it purple dinasaurs

Go Giants

Ryan

As for the starters getting nailed early,

seems like this is mostly happening on the road, right?

Well, all I can say in their defense is that they are slow to adjust to the mound and the depth perception generated by the background and the tilt towards the plate. The mind-body connection that allows the pitcher to find and repeat a release point is being tested early and often by a combination of fielding errors and opposing hitters clobbering mistakes. Opposing hitters don’t always clobber mistakes. Sometimes they pop them up. These opposing hitters are probably experiencing ridiculously high BABIP and HR/FB rates.

So there is a bit of bad luck going hand in hand with the adjustments to be made. That bad luck is probably wreaking some havoc on the pitchers adrenaline and focus, making the establishing of necessary mind-body connection a difficult challenge.

That’s my excuse for the pitchers anyway. And as long as the stuff is still there, things should turn around.

Keep the ball down. Change speeds. Pitch.

Lefty

Colorado was in the World Series in 2007. No other NL West team besides the Giants has been there since. So “never win because of Coors” is an overstatement.

Ryan: I think Pill should start tonight because he needs ABs. It’s silly to call up a hitter for the bench and never let him play. I’m still against a strict platoon at 1B and still believe it would harm the team, just like it did when it was going on last year. Honestly, I’d rather see Pill start everyday than see a platoon.

Giant PITA

Ryan, have been talking to Zito? That sounds like his sort of zenish stuff.

Lefty

Ryan:

Nope. Early holes at AT & T:
April 7 (Cain)–9 runs in the fourth inning (L 14-3)
April 9 (Lincecum)–5 runs in the second inning (W 9-6)
May 4 (Zito)–8 runs by the fourth inning (W 10-9)
May 6 (Bumgarner)–5 runs by the fifth inning (L 6-2)
May 9 (Vogelsong)–6 runs by the fifth inning (L 6-3)

And as you note, there are plenty of other examples on the road.

I’d add that maybe the starter should get even less credit for “putting up zeroes” after giving up early runs–because I think the other team’s offense starts to let down and take poorer ABs. I’ve certainly seen the Giants do that after getting a few runs.

MLBSF

By the way, who is the tardd who decided to put the tunnel right behind home plate at Coors Field?

It is so annoying/distracting seeing all of the commotion behind home plate with the ushers yacking to each other and the grounds keepers or whatever moving back and forth.

And then it gets unbearable in the 9th inning when that atrocious mascot dinosaur shows up and squats right behind the screen for every single pitch.

Where is my tranquilizer gun.

smh

ClutchUp

Giants cant/won’t acknowledge publicly what they know privately.

Pitching poorly and winning is better than the alternative.

Giant PITA

Pitching well and winning better recipe! Ha ha

Richard in Winnipeg

With concerned optomism that our starters will all become more “Bum” like.
I looked at Fresno and Richmond staffs;

Nothing jumps out as especially great in terms of starters.
Relievers that is another story.

I too am starting to believe an outside deal will be needed for another starter.

Bud

Great win! The only bad thing is that Pill has taken 2 of Belt’s ABs since coming up.

Lefty

“Where is my tranquilizer gun”–LOL. Look out, Dinger!

Clutch, I have mixed feelings about what the Giants should admit or acknowledge. I can appreciate the team has made a huge investment in their starting rotation, and they NEED them. So slamming them to the media is counterproductive. Maybe they can trade or find a minor league replacement for one underperforming starter, but they can’t replace three or four of them.

So what might make a worrywart fan like me feel better?

–Call up a bullpen arm when you’re going on a tough road trip to hitters’ parks, not a hitter you don’t need. Your starters have been struggling all season, so it shouldn’t be a shocker when it happens again. Not doing that was a form of denial.

–Skip a starter’s turn when he has a long string of bad outings. Give him a rest or have him pitch a couple times out of the bullpen. Everyone struggles in this game, but there’s a double standard. If one of the young hitters has a few bad ABs/games, they’re on the bench or dropped in the lineup. But if someone in the solid-gold rotation has SEVEN bad starts in a row…they do nothing.

–It should go without saying that they should have 1-2 pitchers on the roster or in AAA capable of making a spot start if a regular starter needs his turn skipped. I don’t really think they do right now. Gaudin has not been a good major league starter (notice that he isn’t one anymore), and as for Petit?–No thanks.

–When a starter does have a bad outing, don’t deny it or make excuses for it. You don’t have to trash him or throw him under the bus. But you can say something honest like “I’m sure Matt would be the first to say that’s not the kind of outing he wants or expects to have, and we have every confidence he’ll do better next time” instead of “What a gutty job he did to ‘keep us in the game’” when he gave up six runs and three homers by the third inning.

ClutchUp

…because there’s always a game the next day thus they don’t have the energy nor wherewithal to articulate it publicly.

Fragile egos of players and the culture of the game holds not talking out of school and honorable characteristic.

Hard to explain to us fans, but that hard a$$ culture controls major league clubhouses and the double standard item has always existed and his well accepted by the younger players.

Just banged my head also…

ClutchUp

Krukows KNBR interview prob available to those who know how to look, find and link.

Oracle, I think it must be your Ex…bmh

demp28

In the last 25 years or so, the Giants, in a season have had great hitting and subpar pitching, and vice versa. In recent years, namely 2010 & 2012, both the pitching and hitting came together at the right time.
Yes, I will let the comment “leading the league in hitting and near the top in runs scored” sink in for a minute. I mean look at 2011. The kids have come a long way and it was very pleasing to see the 6-9 hitters lead the way last night.
I’m one of many who think Vogey should be skipped at least one start, but Bochy has other ideas; like keeping his turn come Monday against the Nats. Any bets on Bryce Harper taking Vogey deep into the Cove?

http://nada paul in p.v.

Snorkel thoughts and bon bons:

Pac – Gracias! for the Timmeh clip – he’s such a rock star. Coincidence that after his last start (a gem) longer hair fell out of his cap? Think not.

Mike – LOL on that nasty Helton comment. Baseball is cruel.

Clutch – Pence DID a Kinsler slide thru home last night, only feet first – he was a blur. Baggs said he looked like a Specialty Team’s Gunner.

Noonan has shown himself competent at the ML level – good trade chip if he’s blocked from coming back. Pill is raking the baseball – same status to me. Can’t wait to see him start in Denver.

Bad omen that Vogey’s starting Monday – almost wish for another stinko so they finally shut him down for awhile.

Ditto on tranking the dinorsaur!!! ;o)

Mike Souza

Props to the WARRIORS! An awesome fanbase, a classy organization N team and a bright, solid future. Watching the level of respect between the SPURS and WARRIORS had after the game was almost as fun to watch as the postgame address the team did the fans.
With that said, Go LAKERS!!!! (insert smiley face)

The Oracle

Belt is hitting .500 lifetime against De La Rosa (ok, he’s 1-2 with a double). It does seem a little strange that they bring up a reason to decrease Belt’s playing time AFTER he starts hitting.

ClutchUp

Pill and Belt are unrelated even if Pill starts tonite.

Its a non story.

Ryan

Versus tough lefties with obvious splits – Pill should be given starts. The ability to double switch Belt later is a nice weapon for Bochy. Give Bochy weapons and he’ll win games.

===

There’s only one pitcher in danger of skipped start or DL trip and you know who that is. He just hasn’t had it. If you want to blame WBC, that’s your prerogative, you’ve only correlation on the side of your argument. Heston could be in line for a call up next week if things go poorly for Vogey. Easy with him on 40 man and he’s only a day off rotation turn. Off day after Nats would offset this. He’s probably the guy, coming off a solid start for Fresno last night.

Kickham is next in line. Petit and Bonser for emergencies. If needed, go big and get Peavy in July.

Giants got this covered. Runs are covering their a$$es right now.

Have faith friends.

==

OH joy tonight – I’m in line to see Shane Loux!

totalfan62

I hope Sabean is working to trade for some pitching depth that everyone knows we need. Lefty: well said on the entire rotation.

There’s a group of second division teams that should be looking for AA/AAA players ready to ascend to MLB, and some of those teams will have starting pitching we could use. Bud Norris and Matt Garza types should be available if we package some of our prospects. Not necessarily those guys, but good pitchers are out there and available if you have the right currency with which to deal.

Further on that same thought, Brett Pill deserves a chance to play everyday, but there’s no room in the Giants lineup. As noted by others he would give some AL team some quality DH ABs. Noonan might be in that category as well: minor leaguers who have put in their time, done everything right, and deserve a chance to earn a job in the majors.

Mijares could be packaged and that spot could be filled by Runzler. Most believe that Hembree will be up soon, and once he is he should be up to stay. That might be Kontos’ spot. I think we keep Lopez, even though he’s likely to be pitching elsewhere next year.

For the short term I’ll say once again–as others have as well-a 13-man pitching staff is the best plan. Arias, Pill, Noonan and Torres not getting enough ABs to stay sharp, and we need pitching depth.

stickman

LVGF: Thanks for the consistent updates on our pipeline players. The one item that really stuck out for me was Chris Heston’s sparkling game vs New Orleans. Last season this young starter was simply nails in the Eastern League. With his promotion to Fresno this spring he was greeted pretty rudely by AAA hitters. Has he turned the corner? Time will tell. A couple more outings like this most recent one and…

…an internal solution may exist if a Giants starter may need a rest. Keep your eyes on Heston, gang.

stickman

Total: Good takes on the trade possibilities.

Ryan

I agree that a 13 pitchers would have been advised for this trip, particularly in light of Casilla’s injury. It’s as if they have an 11 man staff on this trip.

I think Brett Pill has more value to the Giants than to other teams. They’ve all got a Bryan Lahair or Brett Pill on their farm already. Who is the 1B depth behing Belt otherwise??

Sandoval? Posey? I couldn’t tell you who it would be in AAA, but I should find out tonite. I think it is Dominguez or Linden. Maybe Monell .

===

Sabean should have grabbed Oswalt. Oh well. There’s another vet or two out there like Armando “Almost Perfect” Galarraga, but Giants are probably better off with …

Heston and Kickham

Heston and Kickham

Heston and Kickham

Engrained yet? These two must be the reason why Sabey-Sabes sat on his hands or took long cat naps with snorkel.

I’m having faith friends.

Idontgetit

Dinosaur? I thought that was Baby Bop from “Barney”…seriously. Why wasn’t Pill the DH in Toronto? Seemed like the perfect place to get him some ABs.

ClutchUp

TotalFan62, Stick and others…

Correct me but trades can’t happen til @ July 31stish or later…if nobody claims thus Sabes could be hamstrung between needs vs dealing from a position of strenghth/weakness.

Just_wondering while my head recovers from keeping up with Pita and Omt

SMILEY FACE MODERATED

…/ ….. /…..

totalfan62

I agree that Pill should get the start at 1B tonight. He needs four ABs in order to put himself in position to produce in PH/double switch scenarios. That being said, best plan for the Giants at 1B and the #6 hole is Brandon Belt everyday.

BB9 has shown that he is the type of player that when playing everyday and hitting in the same slot will begin to produce runs on a steady basis. Someone said Belt is learning to focus on quality ABs and not be concerned with the results. Good advice and great approach: in a yard like Coors Field (and AT&T), that will translate to lots of doubles and triples. That could be 12-15 HR along with 40 DB and 10+ triples, which would be very nice indeed.

Pill has good offensive ability and deserves an MLB roster spot somewhere, but Brandon Belt is this team’s 1B now and for the next few years.

Idontgetit

Agosta and Stratton in Augusta continue to have the best stats in the system. AAA Fresno pitching looks suspect/horrible from the numbers.

Lefty

If you just look at team stats, the Fresno rotation has been pretty bad. But Kickham’s last two starts have been pretty good, and Heston’s last night was quite good (7 scoreless innings). Those are the two real prospects in Fresno, so it’s worth keeping an eye on their individual starts.

In contrast, lots of depth in the Fresno bullpen. There are a bunch of pitchers with major league experience–Runzler, Machi, Rosario, Ramirez, Loux, Edlefsen–and one of the Giants’ best prospects, closer Heath Hembree, who’s having a great season so far.

Don’t forget about the San Jose staff, which leads the Cal League. The best prospect, Kyle Crick, is injured, but Blackburn, Escobar, Blach, and Mejia are all worth watching, as is reliever Josh Osich. And Santiago Casilla’s little brother, Jose!

Check out Osich’s stats: 21 IP, 1-0 with 4 saves, ERA 0.86, WHIP 0.90, 4 BB, 25 Ks. Sixth-round draft pick in 2011 from Oregon State (same battery with Andrew Susac), went lower in the draft because of injuries, but considered to have tons of upside as a lefty reliever.

Lots to look forward to.

Lefty

Pill and Noonan are both interesting cases because of the recent successes of Conor Gillaspie with the White Sox and even Nate Schierholtz with the Cubs. These were guys that couldn’t break into the lineup for the Giants but were clearly ready to be regulars elsewhere.

Nate had a substantial track record to prove he was a major leaguer, but that was far less true for Gillaspie–Noonan and Pill are more similar to him than to Nate. Wonder how one or the other of them would do if traded and given an opportunity? Not that I’m advocating that–I like the depth.

Lefty

…San Jose is 27-13 with a 3.17 team ERA–that by far leads the league, with the 2nd best ERA at 3.94.

ClutchUp

Did I hear that UCD’s Aggies Justin Fitzgerald suffered an injury?

Anyone?

Lefty

Clutch: I read that he was put on the DL yesterday (scratched from his start) when Peguero reported to Fresno. I don’t know what’s wrong with him, though.

OMT

Ok, I really do understand why a few folks are so worried about the SP. I really do, and it’s not good. But, I am very much with Ryan and Clutch optimism, and that the clubhouse still thinks they got this under control. Clutch, nice to see you using, bmh, \m/ , rock on!!

Internally in the clubhouse, and using Lefty’s 1 inning blunder stats, and my memory that MOST of the rough outings HAVE been 1 inning, I believe the SP’s know and believe that they are not far off good outings except for losing focus in only short periods of time. I mean wow, Zito only 3 innings out of 45 has he lost the Zen. Like PITA says, when this happens, there is a fight at the bat rack for whoever is pitching.

Going back to what I said about them having to be even better before because every team is out to get them. So I’m sure if we go back in time and look at every career start you will find the 2 or 3 mistakes they make probably every game and in those the other team missed those mistakes, let’s just say for lack of concentration. Well, these teams knowing, and I would say, FINALLY, respecting the Giants for winning 2 of 3 Titles now wasn’t a fluke, they just aren’t missing these mistakes anymore. Call it better focus. Especially teams like the Cardinals, Phillies, who got beat in PS by us, and any team in the Division that sees us all the time, has a book on us, etc. etc. Rockies are bewildered losing 9, now 10 in a row, and angry.

So, it’s really tough for these SP’s to be absolutely perfect, like what is kind of being asked here on this blog. Plus, there is a different mindset as there is every season. These guys were tortured into having to be perfect when they had a terrible offense. Not saying they aren’t trying to do the same as always, but now this year they have an awesome offense which just produces a different mindset. So they have to get that focus they had back when they couldn’t score a d*rn run. Every team has a different aura and character each different year. They are still learning and finding out who they are this year. And I take joy in thinking that when they do figure it out, it will be utter destruction for the rest of MLB.

Last thing, I just can’t believe that these SP’s can be so terrible in these short periods of time for the whole year just based on odds and their talent. Now some will say, well look at Timmy, he was horrible all of last year. But Timmy is just a different cat then everyone else and he is truly trying and has to be a different and newly invented pitcher. I think he is on his way to being that now. It is not going to happen over night though. I just don’t see Cain in this same category. Voge is my only slight worry because he has a history of being up and down, but he came out of last year as my favorite Giant, and I really hope he can find “it” again, if not only just for the rest of this year, and earn another title. I agree that there needs to be someone in line for the 6th spot, if needed, and it’s probably in house.

If Voge doesn’t shine Monday, looks like Ryan has the best idea of who will spot him a couple times.

Can’t see Pill taking many AB’s from Belt. Don’t be surprised to see him not at 1B tonight, but it will be someday eventually. Pill hits the ball hard though. I like.

Never did like big purple Dinosaurs!

Got lots to do today, until tonight.

bmh \m/

Ryan

San Jose Giants sandbag the Cal League every year. They hold back prospects and play older guys just like they are doing once again. The record and #’s reflects that. It is what it is. Not that there isn’t substantial young talent in the system.

Guys like Osich and Blackburn should be working on their craft in AA. Perhaps Stratton and Agosta should pitch to batters closer to their own age in A+.

Ryan

Conor Gillaspie watch:

.294 /.360 /.451 114 PAs, 3 HRs

Conor’s bat was always there. Hit over .400 for Wichita St. Shockers before drafted by Giants in sandwich round. He just didn’t have a position – which is odd that the Giants never tried to turn him into a second baseman. He’s always had the ability to spray line drives.

Doesn’t appear this Septic fellow has much going for him when it comes to command.

Perhaps this trade is a token of good faith. Kenny Williams will pick up the phone when Sabean calls.

Peavy…

Rios…

Yes, Rios. Here’s the fake GM logic. Blanco will probably fade or Pagan will get injured. Stack the lineup.

During the Winter, Sandoval can be traded for a pitching prospect and a 3B prospect. The 2014 lineup would still have a formidable middle with Posey, Pence, Belt and Rios.

These fake GM moves are not made in a vacuum.

In the meantime, keep doing your thing Blanco!! And get it going Pagan!!

Ryan

Nice Post OMT. Peace sells, but who’s buyin’? Am I right?

The crookedness of the first-2nd inning runs is flukish. Those will turn into 1′s and 0′s. Everything will even out and appear more normal.

===

Fake GM time for the Warriors Extra !!!

What are you Warriors offseason moves? I’m curious. Do you sign and trade Bogut? Do you trade Klay for an inside presence? What do you do??

I know Lefty will play and come up with some good ones. Clutch, get you fake GM hat on !

ClutchUp

Brandon Rush is back
Bogut is back
Landry and Jack …

1 leaves and 1 stays

Jerry West works more magic…

ClutchUp

Giants keep good future P’s at San Jose because the drive is so short from ATT to SJ Muni.

Its not about their Milb WL records its about whether they are executing pitches and pounding the strike zone.

Once they do that they move them around.

Shout out to the big Sadowski…

Lefty

OMT makes some great points. But isn’t there some middle ground between “perfect” and “5-8 runs by the fifth inning or earlier”?

Ryan: “Septic”–LOL. (It’s Soptic.)

Osich pitched for SJ last year but had injury issues. Wouldn’t be surprised to see him get promoted. As for the SJ starters, who do you promote?

Lefty asks, “If Cain (for example) could suddenly click into gear and be a bulldog after he gave up the THIRD home run, why couldn’t he be one BEFORE all the home runs?”

Does any human operate at peak performance in anything they do all the time? The ‘bulldog’ mindset isn’t the causal factor in Cain’s performance ‘clicking into gear,’ but it was the primary factor for him not quitting in the moment, and on his team, which allowed to stay out there long enough to find some kind of release point that worked for him on this particular night. An alternate scenario was just as plausible, i.e. he never found his release point and got further roughed up. But so long as he ate some innings and didn’t ‘quit,’ he’d still get the same, if somewhat muted, respect by knowledgeable observers. Although, given the fact it would be the third straight ugly loss in our alternate history, it’s likely that muted respect would be drowned out by fans calling for someone’s head.

Peter

Ryan,

I’ve got to say……I consistently like your takes on the Giants and their minor league system. Well done.

Woj

Great job by the offense yesterday, The giants have a bunch of tough outs right now.

Pill has good offensive ability and deserves an MLB roster spot not somewhere … In San Francisco!

Way way too early to crown Brandon Belt as this team’s 1B now and for the next few years. Don’t fall in love with the potential … in year 3 you need to see results now for Belt. If Belt produces a .275+ BA and starts hitting for power consistently (like Pill has done power wise in small sample of ABs), then insert him into 80% of the team’s games at 1B. If not, Brett Pill on the SF ML roster pushes Belt and gets his playing time too. And get Pill out to LF please. Grab him a mitt get him some playing time. Backing up Pence in RF is an option too. These are not premium positions defensively (Creaky older Bonds and lumberjack Burrell played LF!). I expect Pill to better than both of those guys.

Where was Decker in AAA as Pill was mashing PCL pitching? Throw the guy into RF And LF knowing that’s a possible position for him with the big club. Preparation.

http://www.na.com orngendblck

Cain probably thinks he is dreaming having given up 6 runs but still getting a W. It wasn’t very long ago that the Giants offense had a tough time scoring in games Cain startd.

I loved the way Bochy used the bullpen last night. Most managers would have brought the closer in to start the 9th and Bochy usually has done that as well, but with the lefty Blackmon due to hit, Bochy stuck with Affeldt and the matchup, then got the right-hander to PH for the pitcher and brought in Romo to get him and after that Fowler.

ClutchUp

Bob Mariano is the Manager @ Frezz
Decker is THE roving hitting instructor.

Nobody is crowning BB9
The Giants Brass have concluded that Belt IS their firstbaseman, last yr, this yr and in the future.

ClutchUp

Bob Mariano is the Manager @ Frezz
Decker is THE roving hitting instructor.

Nobody is crowning BB9
The Giants Bra$$ have concluded that Belt IS their firstbaseman, last yr, this yr and in the future.

South City Jim

The second Weiss trotted Chacin out for the sixth inning I knew the game was in hand. Bud Black’s the only manager in the NL West that can play chess with Bochy and he doesn’t have the horses.

orangeandblack

Crawdaddy had a HUGE game, even with the E. I kind of like having a dangerous guy eigth, especially if the other team doesn’t have anywhere to put him. Pence the Svengali -love it. Rocks deserved to lose with their pitcher issuing walks with a 6 run lead. Go get them again Team!

http://nada paul in p.v.

Orange – right on re handling the bullpen – Affelt’s outs on the back end of Cain and in front of Romo made everybody better.

Woj: “And get Pill out to LF please. Grab him a mitt get him some playing time. Backing up Pence in RF is an option too. These are not premium positions defensively…”

What r u smoking?

http://hattiemccall.soup.io/ randki

I don’t know whether it’s just me or if everyone else encountering issues with your site.
It seems like some of the written text in your posts are running off
the screen. Can someone else please comment and let me know if this is happening to them too?
This might be a problem with my browser because
I’ve had this happen previously. Thanks